Attraction of the Distance
by Dark Ride
Summary: Rumbelle Secret Santa prompt fill. Seven short stories about Rumple driving Belle.


A Rumbelle Secret Santa fanfic for _robinsparkles14_. Their prompt was: _he drives her places. _A mix of both Fairy Tale Land and Storybrooke. General spoilers for Season 2 but nothing specific after episode 4 onward.

Rated T even if there is a very light smut in the segment VI but nothing overly explicit. Really, nothing to warrant an M rating.

Title taken from the lyrics to _What Kind of Love_ by _Avantasia_, which is totally a Rumbelle song.

As usual, OUAT and all the characters within belong to ABC/Disney, Kitsis and Horowitz. Though I would love another Jane Espenson's written episode.

Happy Holidays!

* * *

He drives her:

**I. To the Dark Castle**

Belle told herself not to be disappointed when Rumplestiltskin escorted her out of her papa's castle and towards a waiting horse-drawn carriage. An entirely ordinary looking carriage, at that. If truth be told, she had expected something else, maybe a tamed and saddled dragon. Or maybe she had expected Rumplestiltskin to simply snap his fingers and relocate the two of them to his estate. A carriage was, if Belle was honest with herself, a bit of a letdown. But she reminded herself that this was not an adventure for her sake. She was doing this for her people, her papa, to save them from the ogres and she might be a bit of a hero for doing this sacrifice but she shouldn't expect more.

"After you, dearie," Rumplestiltskin could be strangely courteous when he wanted to be and Belle accepted his assistance. As pretty as her dress was, it was a bother when it came to her freedom of movement.

The inside of the carriage was simply furnished and Belle didn't look forward to the presumably long journey ahead. Rumplestiltskin didn't enter after her and she pulled a thick curtain out of the way to look for him - she was quite eager to get the journey over with so she could start getting used to her new home - but he seemed to have disappeared. Maybe he had snapped his fingers to get himself home at once, leaving her to what might be days of tedious travel alone. But then the door at the opposite end of the carriage opened.

"Out with you, dearie, we don't have all day."

"But," Belle started to ask when she noticed that the air was noticeably colder and she shivered in her light dress when a gust of wind blew through. There was snow on the ground and the trees and just about everywhere and Belle was stunned to see the mountains - true mountains, tall and rocky and harsh - all around as she climbed out. Rumplestiltskin looked very pleased with himself as he giggled at her awed expression.

"Welcome to the Dark Castle."

**II. Up the wall with his experiments**

Belle was a woman on a mission as she briskly walked down the long corridors of the Dark Castle. He was hiding from her she knew but it wouldn't save him, not this time. She had warned him and he had still gone ahead and done it. All powerful sorcerer or not, he had been forbidden from touching the cake until it had been finished. But she had gone away for a moment, just to get a jug of fresh milk from the pantry and when she had come back, a large piece of the half-finished cake had been missing.

Belle was not an angry person by nature but she had spent the whole morning working on it and she didn't appreciate the fact that he would disregard her hard work and warning both just to satiate his sweet tooth.

"Rumplestiltskin!" she entered the main hall with such a force he jumped in his seat by the spinning wheel, the straw tangling and the golden thread falling to the ground with a thump.

"Careful, now," he warned, one hand pressed against his chest in a false and theatrical gesture. "I'm an old man, dearie, you can't startle me like this, my poor heart can't take it."

Belle rolled her eyes at him. She had been used to his routine by now. He would try and play on her sympathy and then he would shift his blame on some fantastical creature that Belle was pretty sure didn't exist, playing with the words all the while before confessing.

"Someone," she emphasized, looking him over for any signs of leftover crumbs or filling, "ate almost half of the cake I was preparing for tea."

He pulled a wounded face.

"And you think it was me?"

"Who else?" she countered, folding her arms sternly. "Or was it the rat-pigeon again? No, wait, the cake-eating bee-flies."

"Those go only after sweets that have honey in them," he said seriously. "I think the culprit this time is that fox-cat that escaped from my laboratory."

Belle had been used to his routine and what he was telling her now was in no way a part of it.

"A fox-cat," she said flatly and Rumplestiltskin nodded.

"Well, it started as a silver fox that I brought in because I needed its fur but it got its nose into the curiousity potion I was brewing and it changed into a half-cat, half-fox. So, you say it ate the cake? Interesting. It would seem it likes sweet things."

"I don't care what it likes," Belle stated. "What I care about is that there is a monster on a loose in the castle and you brought it in. Go and catch it!" she ordered. Rumplestiltskin gave her a surprised look.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. You let it out, you must bring it in."

"Will I get a reward later? Maybe another cake?" he tried to bargain and Belle relented. She had accused him unfairly - this time - after all.

"I'll think about it."

He grinned at that, fairly sure he would be able to persuade her to make him a cake after all.

"We have a deal, dearie," he bowed and disappeared in a puff of purple smoke.

**III. Away**

The adventuring was not what Belle had imagined it to be. For one thing, it was lonely. Or maybe she only felt that way because she had been so used to his company. For second thing, the books never mentioned the sore feet or the boredom that would set in after a couple of days of looking at the forest around the road. No, such things had no place in the fictional adventures but were all too real and present in her life at the moment.

The sun was at its highest when Belle took a break to eat some of the food that was barely good by then. She would have to stop in a town or at a farm to buy herself something. She could go home, of course, but why waste this opportunity to see the world?

It was strange, really, Belle reminisced as she nibbled on the hard bread. Her last outing she had been ready to run home but then she had decided to return, to believe in True Love and its power. And all it had gotten her was this adventure which was suddenly no longer that appealing.

If only he had stopped to listen to her explanation. How was she supposed to know that the woman on the road was some Queen? Apparently an evil one and maybe Belle should have been more suspicious of her dark appearance but for all she had known, it might have been a fashion in this part of the world and if Rumplestiltskin had bothered to tell her that Evil Queens were roaming the countryside, she would have been more careful about talking to her.

The apple she found at the bottom of her bag was wrinkled but still sweet. Belle took a large bite out of it, chewing slowly. Rumplestiltskin was a coward who was afraid to trust in her feelings when Belle herself had been willing to gamble her freedom on them. He loved her and she loved him but between the two of them, she was the one who trusted and dared to believe. And as much as she wished otherwise, they couldn't be together if he doubted her.

Still, for all she had known his words to be lies, they still hurt. She knew he cared and she knew that it was his lack of faith, not love, that had made him send her away but it was still painful. He had sent her away with a broken heart, emptying his own in the process.

Well, at least the books got this one thing right. Broken heart hurt more than any wound ever could.

**IV. Home**

When Rumplestiltskin led her out of his shop, their hands clasped firmly together, Belle couldn't help but glance around. During her walk earlier, she had been much too focused on thinking about her relationship with him and whether or not she should stay with him but with that issue decided for now, she could finally take her fill of all the new things to be seen.

They stopped by a large metal carriage of some kind but there were no horses. She had seen several of them around, all in different sizes and colours and she wondered how they moved.

"Is this your carriage?" she asked and he looked at her with a smile.

"Of a kind. It's called a car and it functions much like a carriage would, without the bother of horses. And it's much more comfortable, too," he added.

"How does it move then? Magic?" she asked, not sure she wanted his answer. He shook his head.

"Advanced alchemy and mechanics, nothing more. This was a world without magic, after all."

He opened the side door and gestured her in.

"My lady."

Belle dropped the best curtsey she could in her short dress and climbed inside. The seat was very comfortable and she realized she could bounce on it if she tried. She would have done it, too, if Rumplestiltskin wasn't watching her with an indulgent smile. She flushed and folded her hands together, so she would not fidget.

He limped around the carriage - the car, she corrected herself - and got in himself, putting away his cane as he did several things that she had no idea they were supposed to be before looking over at her.

"Fasten your belt, sweetheart."

She looked down at her waist but the thin belt that she had on was already fastened.

"Your seat belt," he corrected before turning in his seat. "Allow me," he asked and at her nod, he reached across her body and took hold of a strange double rope with a clasp that he pulled across her chest and stomach and hooked the clasp in another one between their seats. Belle wondered if the brush of his arm against her breasts had been incidental or not and the way he cleared his throat and straightened up in his own seat told her it had been.

"It's meant to protect you in case of an accident," he explained stiffly as he fastened his own belt and Belle nodded.

"It's very thoughtful," she said and then he turned the small keys inserted in a hole next to the big wheel and the car, for the lack of a better world, roared out. Belle jerked in surprise but Rumplestiltskin was calm and she realized it must have been the sound of the machinery that moved the car around. After the initial surprise, she even started to like the rumbling sound. It was kind of soothing.

"Let's go home," Rumplestiltskin told her and she smiled at him.

"Let's."

**V. From shopping out with Ruby**

Belle knew that if she were to ask Rumple for anything, he would do his best to provide it for her and that was why she had never asked. He had already given her the library without wanting anything in return and she didn't feel right asking for more. But it seemed she would have no choice.

"I have to call Billy," Ruby was pouting at her red car as if it had betrayed her. "It's going to be the oil again, I just know it. And just when we have such a good haul."

Belle looked at the multitude of parcels and bags that sat at their feet, the result of her and Ruby's afternoon of shopping. As Ruby had said, Belle needed to indulge herself once in a while and with the reopened library being such a success, she deserved a reward as well. Not to mention there was a bargain sale going on in one of Ruby's favourite stores and Belle's smaller figure guaranteed that she had had her choice of clothes to pick from.

She had found out she preferred the shorter skirts that seemed a norm in this world. In her old land, a lady showing her knees was unthinkable. In this world, the pretty skirts ending just above the knees - Ruby called them pencil skirts - were worn specifically by women that were as often as not called young ladies. Ruby had even talked her into buying a couple of miniskirts - for a special date, the other girl had laughed - and there were shoes.

Belle really liked the shoes. She might have been somewhat clumsy but the high-heeled shoes, even the stilletos, seemed to instill in her some kind of unnatural confidence and balance. Besides, she really liked how her legs looked in them. And the additional inches didn't hurt either.

"What are we going to do?" Ruby moaned as she tried to get her car to start again, without any result, again.

"Lend me your phone," Belle asked as she decided. If it was just her, she wouldn't ask but Ruby was her friend. She put in the number he had had her memorize soon after she had come to stay with him and waited for the pick-up.

"Gold," he barked and Belle suppressed a smile.

"It's me, Rumple," she said and she could hear the change in his voice immediately.

"Belle. What a pleasant surprise."

Maybe she should have called him sooner, she thought guiltily. He was obviously happy to hear from her and even if she was busy with the library, she still should have found time.

"Well, I actually need a favour."

"Are you hurt?" he asked immediately and she was strangely touched by the barely hidden concern in his voice.

"No, nothing like that. It's just, Ruby and I went shopping and her car broke down and we have a lot of packages to carry. So, could you give us a lift? If you're not busy, of course..." she trailed off uncertainly.

"Where are you?" was the only thing he asked and Belle gave him the address before exchanging quick goodbyes.

"He'll be here in ten minutes," she said as she handed the phone back to Ruby who took it back with a sly smile.

"You have him well-trained," she quipped and Belle flushed.

"We are friends," she defended but Ruby shook her head.

"You are just on a break, you are each other's True Love and he just dropped everything to come and drive you home from your shopping. You have him well-trained, honey, trust me on that."

And really, what could Belle say to that?

**VI. Crazy with his mouth and not just words, either**

They broke the third date rule.

They really didn't have much time for dating, not with the mayhem that Regina's mother brought into Storybrooke. There were battles, there were kidnappings - and Belle was getting truly sick and tired of the amount of time she had been the kidnapped one - there were sacrifices and True Love's kisses, simply put, there was enough to write a whole novel about and still have material left for a sequel.

So in the lull that followed all the drama, it wasn't that surprising that Belle and Rumplestiltskin took the first opportunity they had to be alone and reunite properly after their long time apart.

That it happened in the library was really an added bonus, as far as Belle was concerned. They locked the door, of course, because there had been too much irony and coincidence happening lately and neither of them was willing to risk interruptions of any kind.

Belle was sitting on the counter, her legs swinging back and forth as Rumple double-checked the locks. She huffed impatiently and he turned to her with a quick smile.

"Can't be too careful, sweetheart, or we'll have the whole Saviour's family in here, wanting to waste our time with questions."

"Why should they have any questions?" she asked, toeing off her shoes.

"They always do," he remarked and finally satisfied with the safety measures, he limped over to where she sat. Belle made to jump off but he put his left hand on her thigh to still her. "No, stay just like this," he told her, his hand slipping to her knee and then back up, only to push up her skirt this time. "It's perfect," he smirked and Belle swallowed with a suddenly dry mouth. They had been intimate before, in this world, but after their separation they had barely touched each other. To have it happen again, well, Belle would be lying if she said she wasn't looking forward to it.

Rumplestiltskin put his cane down on the counter, pulling Belle closer until she sat on the very edge. He bent over, kissing one knee and then the other, then moving slightly higher to press another kiss just above the knee. And he went like this, unhurried and attentive all the while Belle did her best not to squirm. He had liked to take his time with her, to worship her as he had claimed once but there was a difference between taking one's time and purposefully teasing. Belle was pretty sure what he was doing right now fell into the second category.

"Rumple," she would be appalled at her needy tone later but right then and there she could care less. "Stop teasing."

He responded by pushing her legs further apart and licking a long line along the inside of her thighs, first the right one and then the other.

"I'm not teasing, sweetheart," he replied as he licked the same path again. "I'm refreshing my memory. Being an old man, it's not what it used to be."

She tugged at his hair at that until she saw him wince.

"You're not old, you're not evil, you're not a monster. You are you, understand?"

"Some people would disagree with you on the evil part,"

"Well, they don't know you as I do, do they?"

"And I am eternally grateful for that."

Belle let go of his hair, the small discussion helping her to cool down a little. It wasn't enough, though, not when Rumplestiltskin returned to kissing up her legs until he reached her underwear. After that, Belle gave up on trying to hurry him up completely. At least, she consoled herself, she would get her turn eventually and pay him back tenfold.

**VII. To the library**

The weeekend spent at his house was as close to perfect as anything in this imperfect world could be. The only marr on it was their oversleeping on Monday morning.

Belle had prepared her clothes the previous evening but then they had gotten carried away and the blouse and skirt ended up "rumpled" - he had even had the gall to laugh at his pun - leaving Belle no choice but to wear her much-shorter-than-usual skirt and a sleeveless top with a lace netting in the back. What had been a perfect outfit for a Friday dinner with her significant other was in no way appropriate for the modest librarian the town was used to.

"You look fine," Rumplestiltskin soothed but Belle only humphed. It had been his fault that she would have to spend half of the day wearing this until she could change during her lunch break. It was already five to eight and even though he was going to drive her, she would be late regardless and this was the first time it had happened...

"C'mon, sweetheart, stop fretting," Rumplestiltskin took her hand and tugged her after him. The drive to the town was silent and when he pulled into a free space by the side of the library, Belle was about to jump out before the car even stopped moving. But as she made towards the main door, where some patrons were already waiting, Rumplestiltskin's hand stopped her movement. "Go and change, five minutes' wait won't kill them."

"But-" Belle tried to protest before he kissed her, a long, drawn-out kiss that made her forget about why she was that anxious in the first place.

"Go and change," he repeated when they broke apart at last. She nodded, unlocking the side door that led to her apartment. She had several spare clean outfits and it was truly only five minutes before she was down, unlocking the main door and apologizing to the waiting people, who all wore the same half-sly, half-understanding smiles.

Ruby dropped in on her during her lunch break, bringing along two of Granny's sandwiches and they ate together by the counter.

"So," Ruby started as she wiped her mouth with a napkin. "I heard you did the walk of shame this morning."

Ruby's grin took out any possible sting from the ominous word combination.

"Walk of shame?"

"Yup, it's when someone who has had sex the previous night comes home in the morning in the full sight of the neighbours."

"Oh," Belle flushed before her mischievous side inserted itself. "Well, it should be renamed. Someone who has had sex the night before is usually satisfied, not ashamed."

Ruby laughed.

"Walk of satisfaction doesn't have the same ring to it, honey. And the sex might have been terrible, too."

Belle shrugged.

"Well, I'm not ashamed at all."

"But satisfied?" Ruby grinned at her and Belle grinned right back.

"You told me once that a girl doesn't kiss and tell."

"That good?"

"That good," Belle confirmed, feeling much better than she had in the morning. Although, truth be told, her improved mood could be in the largest part attributed to the kiss she shared with Rumplestiltskin earlier. Maybe she should let him drive her to work more often.

* * *

Ruby kind of hijacked the ending there. Sorry?


End file.
